Image sensors are configured to include a pixel array including hundreds of thousands to millions of pixels, a device converting analog data detected from a pixel into digital data, and hundreds to thousands of storage devices. However, due to such many devices, the image sensors always have the possibility of a process error.
The quality of an image sensor is determined according to the number of bad pixels. That is, the quality of an image sensor becomes better as the number of bad pixels decreases. An error due to a bad pixel in an image sensor appears as a small dot on a screen.
If image sensor chips with partial bad pixels are all treated as bad chips, the production yield decreases. Therefore, the bad pixels are corrected for use.
A related art bad pixel correction method detects the luminance of an adjacent pixel and a bad pixel (i.e., a target pixel) or detects the R/G/B levels to check the difference, thereby correcting the next bad pixel in real time.
The related art bad pixel correction method is advantageous in terms of real-time correction. However, the related art bad pixel correction method has a difficulty in providing the accurate detection and complete correction of a bad pixel.